Councilor Philian Weygan-Allan has organized a series of alternative livelihood training sessions for the 145 displaced ambulant vendors to encourage them to explore other sources of income.
The city government stopped issuing special business permits to roving vendors as agreed upon among the vendors, Mayor Benjamin Magalong, and the council committee on market trade, and commerce and agriculture during a public consultation in 2019.
Allan said the number of roving vendors has been increasing. The committee and Magalong agreed to discontinue the issuance of special permits to ambulant vendors. Of the approximately 600 vendors in the city, 145 have no special permits.
The committee partnered with different line agencies and offices for a livelihood training program for the 145 roving vendors.
“The vendors with special permits still peddle in the streets. As for the 145 displaced vendors, we need to provide them an alternative,” Allan said.
The committee conceptualized the livelihood training program, which was adopted into a city resolution.
“The livelihood program’s approach is to identify programs based on the priorities and goals defined by vendors themselves and to support their own livelihood strategies,” the resolution read.
It added the program is meant to help the vendors become resilient to the impacts of disasters.
Since September 2019, the Department of Trade and Industry has been orienting the vendors on business management topics such as entrepreneurial mindset, product pricing and labeling, e-marketing, and The Consumer Act. Seminars on how to start a business were also organized for the vendors.
As advised, the vendors formed associations, which were then registered with the Department of Labor and Employment pursuant to the Labor Code.
The office of Baguio Rep. Marquez Go and the City Veterinary Office (CVO) were tapped to provide skills trainings to the displaced vendors.
Trainers from Go’s Livelihood Training Program trained the vendors on commercial cooking and baking while the CVO focused on urban container gardening and organic gardening.
“We noticed that some vendors who signed up for the program started marketing their products like kimchi, puto pao, and peanut butter on social media,” Allan said.
The program will conclude in March after the last set of training, which will focus on leadership. – Jordan G. Habbiling
April 26, 2024
